Who’s gained the most?

The stock market is always bumpy, but recently the trend has been positive. In looking at individual economic sectors, where have the strongest rebounds been? N.C. State University economist Mike Walden responds.

“And it’s interesting, to go back and look at what has happened over the last five or six years. The Dow Jones average, for example, peaked at 14,000 in 2007. Then during the recession, it went down to 6,500, more than a 50 percent drop. Right now, it’s up to above 15,000. So, it’s totally recovered.

“That’s just an amazing bumpy ride. But the ride has not been equally bumpy in all sectors. Perhaps not surprisingly, the financial sector has had the biggest bumpy ride. It had the biggest drop, and because this recession really was in the financial sector, it has also had the biggest gain.

“Next is the information technology area. Again, a big drop during the recession, and it has also had a big gain. There have been some sectors that have experienced the ups and downs, but they’ve not been as bumpy as areas like consumer staples, energy, health care. Those have all had more modest drops and more modest gains. So I think, clearly, what this recession rebound has shown is that recessions and recoveries do not affect — in terms of stock values sectors — economic sectors equally.”